A passive optical network (PON) is a point-to-multipoint, fiber to the premises network architecture in which unpowered optical splitters are used to enable a single optical transmitter to serve multiple premises. A PON may consist of an optical line terminal (OLT) at the service provider's central office and a number of optical network units (ONUs) near end users. A PON reduces the amount of fiber and central office equipment required compared with point-to-point architectures. A number of ONUs may share the same wavelength over the optical fiber.